FINCen by the numbers

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has published a recap of its activities under section 314(a), "By the Numbers" (pdf).

FINCen reports the feedback they get from law enforcement agencies is overwelmingly positive. The activities of the FINCen have resulted in the following actions and discoveries in the reporting period. (which is two and a half years as best I can tell. If they wanted to be helpful in reporting these numbers, they could have presented them by calendar year).

In other words, they got over 1000 subpoenas issued and that resulted in 2 convictions. Maybe these things take a long time to develop. But, once again, I wonder if the costs of these reports exceeds their utility.

These numbers are the result of using what is called the 314 system 408 times. Each time FINCen uses this system, 22,000 financial institutions must:

... query their records for data matches, including accounts maintained by the named subject during the preceding 12 months and transactions conducted within the last 6 months. Financial institutions have 2 weeks from the transmission date of the request to respond to 314(a) requests. If the search does not uncover any matching of accounts or transactions, the financial institution is instructed not to reply to the 314(a) request.

As we had reported in previous posts, more and more businesses in the US are being classified as "Financial Institutions". The latest were jewelers, and it is not clear to this writer if they are included in Section 314(a) reporting.